Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The word “transparent” traditionally means the capacity of light to pass through clear glass so that one can see the things behind it. Transparency also means open, frank, candid, and true, as opposed to opaque or secret. Today, the concept “transparency” in sociology refers to the globally emerging value (and its derivative norms) of information disclosure and access. It asserts that all centers of authority have a “duty to disclose information” and that publics and citizens have a “right to know.” The value of transparency does not stand alone; it is part of information value systems that include also its counter values. Thus, the rules for openness are often circumscribed by norms limiting disclosure, such as secrecy, privacy, confidentiality, and others. There are obviously many different kinds of information linked to these norms, such as personal data, public information, proprietary, and others. However, transparency norms are increasingly expected to be followed by governments, international agencies, professions, corporations, foundations, and civil society organizations. Transparency as a value is historically recent. It had its origin early in the eighteenth century in Sweden's law of information freedom and later in the US Constitution. However, only in the last decades of the twentieth century were the corresponding norms adopted by states on a nearly global scale. ... log in or subscribe to read full text